NIHR Programme Grant Award
A research team led by Professor Anne Forster have been awarded a £3Million National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grant for Applied Research.
The Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation, University of Leeds, have been awarded a £3Million National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grant for Applied Research. The multidisciplinary team includes partners from, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh, Queen Mary University of London and University of Newcastle (Australia). Colleagues from the University of Leeds are: Dr David Clarke, Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation, Professor Rebecca Lawton, School of Psychology and Bradford Institute for Health Research, Dr Karen Birch, School of Biomedical Sciences, Professor Amanda Farrin and Ivana Holloway from the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research.
The study focuses on reducing sitting time in survivors of stroke once they have been discharged from hospital and therapy services. The programme titled “Development and evaluation of strategies to reduce sedentary behaviour in patients after stroke and improve outcomes”, comprises five interlinked work packages including a large multicentre cluster Randomised Controlled Trial. The research team will be developing a behaviour change intervention using a co-production approach, which will be tested in the trial. A mixed-method process evaluation and a cost-effectiveness analysis will run in parallel with the trial.
Professor Forster said “we are fortunate to have this fantastic opportunity to work with people who have had a stroke to improve outcomes for this common condition”.
The Programme will commence 1 October 2017 for duration of 84 months.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. The NIHR is the research arm of the NHS. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government’s strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website (www.nihr.ac.uk).
Stroke
More than 100,000 people in the UK have a stroke each year and there are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK.Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the UK – almost two thirds of stroke survivors leave hospital with a disability. The NHS and social care costs of stroke are around £1.7 billion.
